Watertown School Board Reviews October Finances, Highlights Strong Cash Reserves
Northeast Radio SD News – Watertown, SD - The Watertown School Board reviewed October 2026 financial reports during its regular meeting Monday night, Nov. 9, highlighting healthy fund reserves across K-12 and Lake Area Technical College accounts alongside increased ticket and concession revenues generated by the district’s athletic complex.
General Fund and Capital Outlay Cash Flow
Business Manager Heidi Clausen presented the October financial overview to the board, noting that General Fund revenue for the month totaled $1.4 million ($1,400,246.03). Monthly receipts included $960,684 in State Aid, $221,368.45 in property tax collections, and $91,565 in federal revenue related to Title operations. General Fund disbursements totaled $2,458,845.40, including $2,137,274.25 in payroll and $271,571.15 in operating expenditures.
To support ongoing project payments in the Capital Outlay Fund ahead of November second-half property tax distributions, the district made a temporary $1.5 million transfer from the General Fund to Capital Outlay. Counting the $1.5 million scheduled to be repaid from Capital Outlay this month, the General Fund ended October with an effective cash balance of $4.9 million ($3,413,316.70 on the ledger). Capital Outlay recorded $218,602.45 in October revenue and $333,944.51 in expenditures.
Special Education, K-12 Nutrition, and Athletic Complex Impact
In the Special Education Fund, October revenue reached $364,924.55—including $253,827 in State Aid and $103,838.05 in property tax collections—while routine operating expenditures and payroll totaled $813,752.76, leaving an ending cash balance of $1.5 million ($1,527,825).
K-12 Nutrition Services generated $253,111.38 in October revenue, bolstered by a $124,944.10 federal reimbursement claim covering August and September meal activity. Monthly expenditures totaled $197,731.72, driven primarily by replenishing food service inventory. The K-12 nutrition cash balance closed October at $233,683, nearly double the $118,338.74 balance recorded in October 2025.
According to the October financial statements, Arena Concessions brought in $35,767.32 in monthly revenue against $28,234.92 in expenditures, ending October with a cash balance of $74,833.53—more than double the $29,764.81 balance reported in October 2025.
Lake Area Technical College and Employee Benefit Trust
Lake Area Technical College reported $1,051,146 in October revenue, including $215,840.83 in the Campus Plan Subaccount. During the month, LATC transferred $1.5 million into the Campus Plan Subaccount to strategically designate existing fund balances for upcoming campus renovations and facility improvements. Excluding that internal transfer, LATC monthly disbursements totaled $2.8 million ($2,861,651.46). Combined cash balances across both LATC accounts ended October at $11.2 million ($11,254,310.95), up from $7.5 million a year ago.
Clausen noted that LATC’s enterprise funds—including the LATC Bookstore ($1,261,317.37 ending balance), Educare daycare ($570,076.98 ending balance), and LATC Food Service ($330,450.82 ending balance)—also trended positively to support their respective operations.
In the district’s Employee Benefit Trust, October revenue of $1,012,170.56 outpaced administrative and claims-related expenditures of $605,009.27. As a result, the Employee Benefit Trust cash balance increased by $407,161.29 to $3,894,436.98, remaining above the balances reported in each of the prior two years ($3,004,605.95 in October 2025 and $3,078,201.77 in October 2024).
